How the Form of the Iconographic Tradition Relates to the Catholic Worldview

8/14/2019 How the Form of the Iconographic Tradition Relates to the Catholic Worldview

1/8

How the form of the iconographic tradition relates to theCatholic worldview

David Clayton (Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Merrimack, NH)

The development of the iconographic style

The development of a unique style of Christian art began after Christianity became the official

religion of the Roman Empire under the

Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD. Forthe first time, artists were able to paint works for

public viewing on a large scale. At first, theyused the styles that were used for all art in the

Roman Empire. Mosaics in Ravenna in Italy that

date from AD428, for example that of the GoodShepherd, are indistinguishable in style from

that of the Late Antique art that existed in the

Roman world at that time. The figures are highlynaturalistic: there is a landscape setting for the

figure that creates an illusion of depth and a

sense of space using a basic perspective. Thereare other mosaics in Ravenna, that date from

only 120 years later that are quite different in style. If we look at the mosaic of the Emperor

Justinian and His Retinue, we can see that though clearly derived from the earlier form, the

figures are much more stiff and formal. All are portrayedfull face, none in profile. The negative space around the

figures is not devoted to the depiction of the illusion of

depth. The figures almost give the appearance of cut-outspasted onto a flat surface. All this, and other features we

shall discuss later, contribute to a deliberate stylization and

can be accounted for in terms of the Christian

understanding of the human person and our place inCreation. For example, the flat negative space is a visual

representation of heaven or the fullness of God, the eternal

sphere where there is no time and no space.

ALL mankind is made by God to be united with Him in

heaven in perfect bliss. To the degree that we choose to


2/8

cooperate with Gods grace, every single one of us will have the chance of seeing

Him face-to-face and partaking in the Divine nature. The stylistic features of the

iconographic tradition were developed to reveal to us this heavenly ideal of

mankind. Through the medium of a painting they portray the idea of what saintslook like, so to speak, in heaven in a way that we, fallen people, can grasp. Once

the new style of iconography had been developed it spread throughout the wholeChristian world. There are icons, for example the Christ Pantocrator, left, paintedaround the same period in Mt Sinai in modern day Egypt. This prototype, what we

might refer to as the Byzantine and the one we recognise today most commonly

the liturgical art of the Eastern Church, was in fact the prototype for all Christianart, East and West, Latin and Greek up to the end of the Romanesque period

(about 1200AD).

While conforming to the iconographic prototype, there have always been

identifiable local variations in style usually through a fusion with other traditional forms. Even

when various parts of the West became relatively isolated due to the subsequent disintegration of

the Western Roman Empire, contact with other Christian communities never stopped altogether.There was a continuous line of contact through warfare, trade and monastic religious

communities throughout the Christian world. The monasteries especially preserved culture and

learning in the West and even those on the Celtic fringe, in Ireland, were in touch with theirEastern monastic brethren. This is known because of the discovery of Byzantine artefacts in the

West. We see Celtic art, Carolingian art (named after Charlemagne) or Ottonian art (named after

Otto 1, the Holy Roman Emperor crowned 962) all conforming to the iconographic prototype.These Western art

forms incorporated the

swirls and flowing

lines of their abstractdecorative art into a

highly stylized

figurative art form, butnevertheless they are

true to the iconographic

ideal.

2

An 8th centuryIrish icon of St

Luke, right, and a

Romanesque icon

of Christ inmajesty, far right.


3/8

After 1000AD there was an increase in communication between East and West, much of it

through warfare. The crusades and the conquest of Eastern territory affected Western art. What

we now recognise as Romanesque art used the greater degree of naturalism (as compared with

Ottonian or Celtic art) of the Eastern icons. This period is called Romanesque from a descriptioncoined in the 19th century meaning debased Roman that referred to architecture retaining

columns and rounded arches, before the adoption of pointed gothic arches.

The rejection of the iconographic prototype in the West

The same forces that renewed contact with the Christian East also established contact with theIslamic East and West (in Spain). This contact sowed the seeds for the adoption of a different

artistic prototype in the West. It is ironic that the society whose art was epitomised by patterned

abstraction due to the rejection of figurative art, Islam, should, through allowing the rediscoveryof the philosophy of Aristotle, provide a great impetus for a greater naturalism in Western art.

Through the incorporation of Aristotle into Western Christian thought by theologians such as St

Thomas Aquinas, people started to look at the world around us in a new way. The force thatmoved this change in outlook from the scholarly circles into a more widespread change in

outlook was spiritual. St Francis of Assisi, who loved the beauty of nature, was a hugely popular

and influential saint. Franciscan spirituality created an enthusiasm and love for the natural worldthat had not existed before to the same degree; and causing the development of the scientific

observation of nature as well as an increased naturalism in art. Gothic art and architecture reflects

this and is the beginning of a shift in art towards a greater consideration of mans place in thefallen world that has its culmination in the Baroque. The iconographic, the gothic and the

Baroque (at its best) are cited by Benedict XVI as the three authentic

Catholic liturgical artistic traditions.

The art of the Eastern Church was not affected by the gothic, but we

see an affect of the Renaissance. Unlike the West, however, this did

not result so much in new authentic liturgical forms, but in an inferioriconographic form. The degeneration of the iconographic form was

accelerated during the Enlightenment which affected Russia

particularly, under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. The re-establishment of what we think of the pure iconographic prototype

in the Eastern Church didnt occur until the mid-20th century under

figures such as the Greek Photius Kontoglou, and Russians LeonidOuspensky and Gregory Kroug. Catholics especially should

remember that much of what we read today about the iconographic

tradition is in fact generated by a 20 th century examination of past

icons by these Orthodox figures. As a result it tends to assertOrthodox theology and mysticism very strongly and sometimes

presents the iconographic tradition, wrongly, as the exclusive

preserve of the Eastern Church.

3

degenerate Russian icon, 18th century


4/8

The theology of icons

As stated, the ideal of man that an icon painter follows, is mankind in heaven where all are

purified without trace of sin and in the state of final unification with God. In trying to ascertainwhat mankind looks like in heaven, theologians and artists looked primarily to their bibles. Man

in heaven is seen as described in the book of Revelation. A glimpse of the divine appearance ofthe body was also seen in Christ himself at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 9:28-36, 2Peter 1:16-18). In this passage Christ, and the apostles Peter, James and John went up on a high

mountain where they were alone. Christ is described in Lukes gospel: the fashion of his face

was altered, and his garments became white and dazzling; Matthew says that his face wasshining like the sun, and his garments became white as snow; Peter described a splendour that

dazzles human eyes. In Johns vision of heaven, described in Revelation, he says that the saints

will see the Lord face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. It will never benight again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on

them. (Revelation 22:4-5).

When the apostles saw Christ transfigured they saw for those few moments as those who are puresee when they are in heaven. The ascent of the mountain is often interpreted as a metaphor for the

ascent of their souls towards heaven. There appeared also with Christ two prophets known to be

in heaven, Elijah and Moses. The light that was seen is referred to as uncreated in the sense thatit is the divine light that exists in all time. This is to be contrasted with the created light that we

normally see in the material universe, such as that from the sun or electric light bulbs.

We know saints in heaven participate in this divine nature in heaven. There are also recorded

cases of them revealing aspects of it prior to that as they became purer or holier. In the book of

Exodus we read that the skin of Moses face shone with an unearthly radiance after he had

conversed with God on Mount Sinai; for a time he had to wear a veil because the Israelites couldnot bear to look to look on this brightness (Exodus, 34:29-35). St Paul refers to this in the second

letter to the Corinthians and says explicitly that this transfiguration is open to all of us: It is

given to us, all alike, to catch the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, with faces unveiled; and so webecome transfigured into the same likeness, borrowing glory from that glory, as the Spirit of the

Lord enables us. (II Corinthians 3:18).

As a result of the Fall, a level of disorder exists in the world. There is a tension in mankinds

relationship with visible creation, which has become alien and hostile and like man, is now

subject to decay. The icon provides a contrast with the fallen world we see around us and portrayscreation as redeemed. As the purpose of icons is to give us a glimpse of how things will seem

when we are in heaven and man in heaven appears different to man on earth, there is no interest

in portraying man naturalistically. This is not to say that man in heaven bears no relation to man

on earth. The final resurrection at the end of time will be a resurrection of the body and in the ageto come we will be complete in our nature, with both body and soul. We will have bodies with

arms and legs and so on that are recognisable as such.

When painting icons, individual style is never sought as an end in itself. Quite the contrary, the

artist seeks to conform to the accepted standards. This does not prevent individual styles

emerging quite naturally however. The work of well known iconographers is instantlyrecognisable and given a previously unseen icon, anyone who knows icons well will be able to

4


5/8

identify at least the geographical region that it came from and the time that it was painted,

perhaps to within 50 years. The appearance of characteristic styles occurs in a different way from

that of modern art, in which individualism deliberately sought. The distinctive style of an icon is

never sought but occurs through the humble desire of the individual to conform to the will ofGod. It is a true self-expression, a reflection of the person God intends us to be; and a

realization of the maxim that in self-forgetfulness we find our true selves.

The stylistic elements of icons

The style of the icon reflects our knowledge of the ideal it is portraying. First, some features ofthe saints are exaggerated. The organs that receive information are slightly enlarged: the eyes, the

ears and the nose is lengthened. Those parts of the body that are expressive are slightly reduced

in size: the mouth, the hands (the fingers on the hand however are given a gracefulness by beingmade slightly tapered and lengthened, however). This is to emphasise the saintly qualities of

temperance and humility, so the saint always listens and

considers information received before acting with wisdom.

They are not shown displaying great emotion, but with acontrolled and calm demeanour.

Because the saint is a source of light there is no deep shadow, asin Western naturalistic art. A shadow is only cast when there is

a light source that is distinct from the object that is casting it.

For the same reason, the eyes never have the glint of reflectedlight on them. If you go into any art gallery that has traditional

Western portraits, the chances are that every single one will

have a reflective glint painted on the eyes. Also egg tempera,

the medium used, has a higher visual register than, for example,oil paint. (Egg tempera is made by making a paste of the

pigment with egg yolk and then diluting with water.) One might

characterise it as looking like morning light, while oil looks likeevening light (and acrylic looks as though it is illuminated by

fluorescent strip lighting!). Gold is often used to represent the

glow of uncreated light around the saint. The disc of goldaround the head is the halo. (The icon to the left is a modern

icon of the Archangel Gabriel, and in this the golden background, indicating the presence of God,

is differentiated from the light emanating from the angels head by a read circular line.) It isinteresting to note, therefore, that the halo is not a symbol, as such, of sainthood. Rather, it is a

direct representation of uncreated light that emanates from saints. When the halo is depicted as a

yellow hoop floating above the crown of the saint, as some Western art does, it is reducing the

halo to an arbitrary symbol unrelated in appearance to the reality it portrays..

Saints, such as the Archangel Gabriel, shown above left, are depicted full face to three-quarters

turned towards us, never in profile, so that we have a sense of seeing them face to face. Thisgives them a characteristic look that interacts with those looking at the icon and pulls their

attention towards it. Usually the sense in icons is that there is no foreground portrayed; figures

always appear in the middle ground. There is always a sense of distance between them and us.

So, as fast as their gaze pulls us in, they keep receding into the middle ground. This effect is

5


6/8

achieved by controlling the angle of vision; that is the size of the figures portrayed relative to the

distance from which they will commonly be seen. This should be contrasted with Western

naturalistic tradition of the baroque which, for sound

theological reasons, generally places theprotagonists in the foreground. In Caravaggios

Supper at Emmaus for example, right, (painted at thebeginning of the 17th century) which is in theNational Gallery in London, the viewer is almost

made to feel as though he is sitting at the empty

space of the table with Christ and the apostles. Hebrings the saints right to us.

In iconography, everything is deliberately painted tobe two-dimensional; there is very little sense of

depth behind the plane of the panel. This is achieved

by the lack of deep shadow, as mentioned before,

and by the use of the medium egg tempera, which always appears flat. Oil paint was rejected as amedium because it creates imagery that is too 3-dimensional. When oil paint is used in dark

glazes, the painting sinks into the depths beyond the plane of the painting. In contrast, when

tempera uses black, for instance, is just sits like soot on the surface. Also, because egg temperadries in just a few minutes (if it is the first application to the gesso surface, it dries even quicker,

in a matter of seconds) blending of tones and colours is difficult and there is little scope for

expressive brushwork. Oil, in contrast takes days to dry and so can be blended easily andseamlessly and is a good medium for subtle modelling. These properties mean that oil paint helps

the artist to enhance the sense of naturalism, while tempera inhibits the naturalism of the painting

and heightens the sense of symbolism in the image, which is desirable in an icon.

There is very little landscape detail or buildings shown in icons; only what is necessary to the

events being depicted. These are shown idealised as well, as seen through the eyes of purity. The

expulsion from Eden is not a geographical displacement, but a radical change in the relationshipwith God and creation. Once matter is redeemed as it will be at the final end of all time, it enters

into the heavenly realm that is outside time. Although it is a future event when considering

things in the temporal sense, those things outside time are in a state of perpetual being so onecould almost say that if it will happen, it already has happened. Just as the liturgy of the Church is

a temporal participation in the eternal heavenly liturgy the uncreated light painted emanating

from saints portrayed while they were still alive, is revealing a temporal participation in theireternal redeemed state. The icon is the eternal momentarily bursting through into the temporal.

When the icon shows redeemed matter other than people, i.e. plants etc, they are shown redeemed

and without decay. Also, nature is portrayed so as to emphasize its place in the natural hierarchy

and order, with man at the pinnacle, and Christ foremost among mankind, followed by Mary, theMother of God. Therefore, trees and rocks might be depicted as bowing or bending towards a

saint.

Where landscape details or buildings are depicted, it is usual to avoid conventional Western

perspective. In fact, there are many types of perspective used in icons which help us to emerge

from our egocentric worldview and see as God sees, with the eyes of purity. For example: Multi-

view perspective, where the front and back of an object is portrayed at once, encourages us to see

6


7/8

the world immersed in the omnipresent God. It suggests that when we look at something with

purity we can are not restricted in the knowledge of if by our position in relation to it, we can in a

sense know it fully. Once, when I was teaching a 12-year old about icons we were painting an

icon of St Luke (below) in which both the front and the back were simultaneously portrayed. Idescribed the idea of this to her by saying that in heaven, which is outside time and space, we can

be everywhere at once and so it as though we can walk around the back, have a look, come backto the front again, and yet no time has elapsed. Inverse perspective makes us the vanishing pointrather than a fictitious place within the image. By moving through the real space between the

icon, and ourselves the lines of this perspective convey grace to the area before us. Inverse

perspective also gives the sense that the saints are looking at us, that we are the object of theicons contemplation. Isometric perspective,

where planes and lines remain parallel and

undistorted by distance, affirms the integrity ofeach thing in itself, regardless of how it appears

to the physical senses. The generalflatness of

icons helps us to pass through the image to meet

the holy person who is its subject. The relatedtipped perspective, where for example, a

horizontal surface is portrayed at an angle tipped

toward us, so the all things on it are clearlyvisible, allows things to be arranged more freely

on the vertical plane than with conventional

single point perspective designed to create asense of depth. This permits greater use of

traditional, sacred geometry as an abstract

system of order so as to lend harmony to the

image. It also allows the iconographer to usehieratical perspective, where things are arranged

according to their spiritual importance the more

important figures are made more prominent inthe composition through variation in size and

placement.

In addition, in design terms the lines of the

inverse perspective bring the eye towards the saint from all parts of the icon as they radiate out

from it. Second, it enhances the sense that everything is taking place in the plane of the painting.If a building is depicted for example, reason tells us that it should occupy a large space beyond

the icon plane and our minds will tend to create that space for it to occupy. In the icon, however,

every time our minds try to take our attention to occupy a space beyond the icon plane, these

perspective systems ensure that we are pushed back; it deliberately works to destroy the illusionof space.

As mentioned above, I was taught to order the composition of icons in accordance with principlesof sacred geometry. In common with all figurative art, in order for the artist to be able to arrange

the figures without destroying the sense of unity, the geometry employed is relatively simple. I

was taught to use simple ratios such as the musically derived harmonies of 1:2, 2:3 and 3:4.These would be applied to the outer proportions of the icon and within, the important events of

7


8/8

the compositional theme were placed at positions of approximate a half, a third and a quarter way

across the image. However, these were never seen as an end in themselves, simply guidelines that

can lead us to a well balanced composition. At the end of the process, I was taught always to look

at the painting as a whole and modify according to intuition so that it looks unified and wellbalanced.

Windows to Heaven: how icons affect prayer

All the elements described combine to create a dynamic process that first pulls the viewer into the

icon and then sends the attention beyond the icon itself to heaven. The full-faced gaze of the saintarrests our attention, pulls us in and holds us on itself. Icons encourage us to see them close at

hand: the abundance of detail in the painting encourages us to scrutinize and contemplate what is

revealed as we get closer. As our eyes scan the painting, the design of it allows us to contemplateeach detail, but then pushes us back to the central figures: the two-dimensionality of the icon

ensures that the attention is kept firmly in the plane of the painting, which is occupied by these

central figures. Within this plane, the other elements described, such as the radial inverse-

perspective lines guide our eyes towards its intended focal points.

Just as there are forces at work that push our gaze back to the central figure or figures, our

thoughts and attention are deliberately given one escape route, so to speak, that is, up to heaven.While our gaze is always happiest on the icon itself, there are devices that build in a

dissatisfaction and desire to get closer still. First, because the icon is generally painted in the

middle ground it always appears physically distant. No matter how close we get to the icon, thefigure depicted will always recede into the middle ground. Second, the sober and calm expression

of the icon (called the bright sadness) gives an emotional distance. We dont feel emotionally

involved with the figures depicted in the way that we do with baroque art. The divide between us,

the viewers, and the figures in the icon is one that we want to get close but cant. Even if ournoses are pressed up against the icon the figure always seems distant. Also, the lack of naturalism

always jars to a degree: we can never feel contented that we are with the saint depicted; the

inbuilt symbolic qualities always remind us that this is an image.

The only way for us to get closer is to turn our attention to the real saint who is at that very

moment in heaven. So while our gazes our fixed on the icon of the Mother of God, our thoughtsgo beyond the image to the real Mother of God who is looking at us from heaven.

There is no hidden mystery to praying with icons, therefore, one simply prays as one wouldotherwise chanting, reciting, singing, or praying silently but allows his gaze to rest upon the

icon and be open to the dynamic that the icon involves us in. The well painted icon does the work

for us. I have watched many Eastern Christian families praying at home for example, before a

meal or when retiring at night, and they turn to the icon or icon corner and chant their prayers outloud while looking.

8

Documents

How the Form of the Iconographic Tradition Relates to the Catholic Worldview